Bonn Tax Bill Passed

Reuters

Published: July 9, 1988

BONN, July 8—
The West German Government's tax revision legislation was finally passed today after 18 months of often bitter debate. From 1990, taxes will be cut by 37.2 billion marks (about $20 billion) a year. But Bonn will gain 18.1 billion marks (about $10 billion) by cutting tax concessions and imposing a withholding tax on investment earnings. Chancellor Helmut Kohl has called the tax revision the ''undertaking of the century,'' offering the biggest tax cut in West Germany's 39-year history. But economists said that many of the economic benefits of the changes will be lost because the Government has decided to raise indirect taxes next year.